Theo

"Ms. Hernadez, I will walk out of this store if you don't choose something in the next five seconds."

A thud is heard inside the dressing room for the fifth time since we've been here and I roll my eyes. I should have just asked my receptionist to find her something to wear.

Tonight, I need to be at a casino for a possible investment.  The owner had emailed me a good enough percentage so tonight I was going to check it out.

Lily is supposed to come along, so she can take notes and inspect it for me. Her usual style, skinny jeans or a long dress with sandals and one strap bag wasn't going to work for tonight. Although I preferred her style than my employees who would freak out if even a hair was moved.

She steps out of the dressing room with a wide smile. "I really like this one!" She says cheerfully, wearing a light green shirt and a matching long skirt.

"Lift up the skirt. "

Her mouth goes agape and she blushes, "Goodness, we haven't even gone on a date yet!"

"To see the shoes, Lily."

"Oh. My apologies." She giggles and lifts her skirt a little.

I stand up in irritation, "No sandals."

She throws her hands up and frowns, "Well why not? I think I've tried on nearly the whole store and the blister on my pinky toe is not very happy about it, Muffin."

I walk closer and stand in front of her, "Listen to words coming out of my mouth." I point to my lips, "This is a casino. No sandals, boots or anything remotely close to your style." I say, speaking slowly.

She hits my shoulder, "I ain't five years old!" She replies before stomping off to the dressing room and I laugh.

I sit back down as she tries on other clothes. The next outfit she comes out in is a light pink dress with matching sneakers. Seeing the glare I have she goes back inside the dressing room. Five minutes later she returns wearing light blue jeans and a matching tank top and long sleeve shirt underneath.

She flexes her non-existent muscles and I laugh before telling her to try something else. I think I've laughed more than I have in the last five years since I've met Lily. I roll my eyes at that.

The cheerful-giggle-bomb was right. I am warming up to her.

Lily has been my assistant for almost five weeks now and the way she is slowly starting to affect is beginning to aggravate me. I had a dream about her last night for fuck's sake! All of my life I've only had nightmares and the dreams I've had I couldn't even remember. But I've never had one about a woman. Especially a woman who is the exact opposite of me.

When Lily squeals my train of thought is gone and my attention directs to her. "Did you break another hanger? Are you serious? Do you know how to stay out of trouble at all or is it just your n-"

"Well kick me in the tush and call me Judy because I think we've got a winner, sugar."

The door flies open and Lily walks out the dressing room, wearing a long dark red dress with matching heels. I stare at her in awe and stand up.

"You like?" She asks, twirling and smiling happily

How can someone be so fucking beautiful?

"Fuck." I mumble as my eyes run over her.

She stops and stares at me expectantly, "How do I look, Muffin?"

Beautiful. Gorgeous. Sexy. Astonishing. Magnificent. Perfect.

"Nice." I reply and begin walking to the register.

I pinch the bride of my nose in stupidity. Gosh why do I always fuck these kind of things up?

Jackass why didn't you just say the right word? Fucking nice? Seriously?

Since I was a kid I've always had trouble saying something nice to someone or anything remotely affectionate without feeling like a total wimp. The only time I am able to do it is when I don't think before speaking. I should try that more. Maybe people won't think I'm that much of an asshole.

I pay for Lily's dress and she changes back into her old clothes before we leave the store. I can tell I've affected her by her sudden mood change. As we walk to the car, I put a hand in front of her, signaling for us to stop.

"What happened?"

"Look I'm uh s-"

"Oh my goodness!" She cuts me off and takes her phone out. "The sky!"

I look at the sky and become confused, seeing nothing there. "What about it?"

"It's just so pretty!" She snaps a picture of it and shows it to me before putting her phone away.

I open the door for her. "Looks the same as always."

She rolls her eyes and gets inside the car. "Well your whole bedroom is gray, so I don't expect you to think it is." She replies and laughs at the scowl I give her as a response.

I close the door and sit in the driver's seat. As I start the car Lily leans closer, "You need a nickname."

"I thought I already had one."

"You need another one." She claps and smiles, "Grumpy Gary will be your second nickname!"

"Why do I have to get such an old man's second nickname?"

"Because you act like one, Dumplin'!"

"Alright then, yours is Cheerful Carol."

There were about three hours left until we had to be at the casino. I take us to my house since the office is still being remodeled and we work on the last minute details for other things before getting ready.

Lily gets dressed in my guest bathroom and I get dressed in my room. I am surprised when Lily is done before me. Despite her short amount of time, she comes out looking amazing. I try to tell her how beautiful she looks but the words just don't come out of my mouth.

Soon we are back in the car and on our way to the casino. After about fifteen minutes of silence, Lily leans her elbow on the cup holder and smiles.

"Want to prank them?"

"No."

"It'll be so funny, just you wait to see the looks on their faces sugar!" She starts and fidgets with her hands excitedly. "I'm going to act like I'm dead and you're going to pretend to be a doctor."

"No. I'm not participating in that buffoonery."

She tugs my arm and frowns, "Why not? It'll be fun."

"No."

"Please, oh, please! Come on, Muffin!"

I stop the car, arriving at the casino and sigh. She wasn't going to give up until I said yes.

"Fine. I'm not ordering Chinese food tomorrow though."

She squeals and hugs me tightly as I get out of my seatbelt. I roll my eyes when she presses a kiss to my cheek.

"You're blushin' again!"

I turn away and get out of the car, "No I'm not, shut up."

She laughs and follows my actions. As soon as we step inside the casino, business men and women approach me. I wince, seeing that I have to talk to people. Lily laughs at my expression before wishing me luck and wandering off somewhere.

For the next hour, my employees, coworkers and other people I've never spoken to in my life greet me and babble about topics I couldn't care less about. Once I am finally able to escape, I check the time and start walking to Lily, who is talking to the fish in the fish tank in the owner's office.

I pull her away and tell the owner we will return in a little while. I frown, seeing Lily narrowing her eyebrows and walking weirdly. "What the fuck are you doing?" I whisper

"Everyone is walking mysteriously. I'm just trying to fit in." She replies and continues walking weirdly.

I laugh and put my hands in my pockets. "You don't have to walk like them, Lily."

She wobbles a little in her heels as she is about to grab my hand. "Okay, M-" Lily falls to the ground, her ankles hitting the floor roughly and her heels falling off.

I immediately kneel to her level as people begin surrounding us, gasping loudly. "Are you okay?" A blonde woman asks

I roll my eyes at everyone actually believing she is hurt. Taking off my jacket I place my hands on her stomach, trying to act like I am a doctor as much as possible.

Theo, why did you have to hire the most insane woman as your assistant? Now you're doing weird shit like this.

I clear my throat, "Everyone calm down! I'm a doctor, I've got this."

I rub my hands together and pump her chest. "One!" I shout and Lily tries to cover her laugh.

"Can you save her, doc?" The same blonde woman asks and touches my shoulder.

Lily rises up quickly, "Looks like I'm A-okay, y'all!"

Everybody breathes a sigh of relief and claps as she stands up. The woman let go of my shoulder.

I begin walking to a slot machine and Lily appears on the side of me shortly. "You did great, Muffin! They really fell for it!"

I shake my head, "I don't understand how. Your acting was goddamn atrocious."

She hits my arm lightly, "Oh hush, you know it was amazing. I could be a professional if I wanted to."

"Sure."

Terrance, the owner of the casino appears  and he leads us to a table. For the remainder of the time he is here, we discuss the details for the investment and Lily takes notes, occasionally adding her own opinions.

Before he leaves I already know my decision. The casino was well known and only needed a few touch ups, so I figured why not. The fundraiser we are planning, could pay for the touch ups so that wouldn't be a problem.

After speaking to some of my employees that joined us, Lily and I left. In the car she plays a pop song and sings awfully to it with her hand hanging out of the window as the wind hits her face.

It isn't long before we arrive at her house. She notices and rolls up the window, grabs her bag, and gets out of the car hastily.

"Goodnight, Muffin!" She says, waving to me before rushing in the house.

I frown at her suspicious behavior but decide to leave it. As I pull off, I see her truck is still sitting there. She had babbled about it needing to be fixed a few weeks ago. I stare at it for a moment before driving away.

Instead of taking the road to my house, I make a turn down a different street. There was a repair shop a few blocks away. I figured it shouldn't take long.

She better not hug me after this. I don't think I can take the physical touch anymore.

•••

Happy holidays! Let me know if you are enjoying this story so far, love y'all!